Malariablood in the pocket.

Abstract

For the first time on June 5, 1919, at the Hamburg State Hospital Friedrichsberg, two paralytics were artificially infected with malaria, subjecting them to the new malaria fever treatment according to Wagner-Jauregg (1917). This article examines the life stories and medical histories of these patients, an opera singer and a yardmaster, and provides an interpretation based on their medical files. Relevant contemporary medical publications contextualise the specific configurations of their hospital stay. In both cases, a detailed comparison between each medical file and the published case history reveals remarkable.discrepancies. A specific concept of remission, mainly determined by the level of restoration of a patient's working power, i. e. the ability to work, was implemented. Finally, the article considers the question of why the new therapy method was introduced in Hamburg specifically on June 5, 1919.